I have missed so much.
Movement out of the corner of her eye made her turn her head to see Lady Bridget Gillray, her godmother. The middle-aged lady had an unpleasant twist to her mouth as she strode to the gate.
Selina barely managed to keep the frown off her face. Her godmother was the one who had sent her away to boarding school. She was the reason Selina had not seen her sister in half a decade.
“You’re a day early,” she told Selina by way of greeting. “So don’t expect a room made for you. I’m sure we can find space for you somewhere in the servants’ quarters.”
Anger flared in Selina, along with a touch of sadness. Her godmother had always been a cold woman, but she had hoped for a little more cordiality.
Selina tried to arrange her expression into something that looked pleasant, for her sister’s sake. Still, she was only somewhat successful, despite all her finishing school lessons on manners. “Good afternoon,” she said. “It’s always nice to see my godmother.”
Lady Gillray looked her up and down. Whatever she saw in Selina’s modest travel dress and bonnet was clearly lacking because her nose wrinkled slightly before turning to Christine.
“Just because your sister is here does not mean you have reason to shirk your duties. My bed is still unmade, and if you expect me to let you go to the Dowager Duchess of Greystone’s gathering, then you need to make sure both my gown and your own are neatly pressed and ready.”
Christine threw an anxious glance at Selina before saying, “Yes, Godmother.”
Anger prickled through the older sister. She grabbed Christine’s arm and held her back as Lady Gillray turned to go back to the manor.
“She treats you like a lady’s maid?” She whispered the words so the horrid older woman wouldn’t hear. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” Christine whispered. “Besides, there is nothing you can do.”
“That is unacceptable!”
“It hardly matters,” Christine said. For the first time since Selina arrived, she could see the fatigue on her sister’s face. “It is not worth arguing with her on the matter. It is just easier to do what she says. Besides, it is not forever, is it? Eventually, I will marry and be rid of her.”
Selina mustered a smile for her sister’s sake. “Perhaps you will find a husband this weekend. You might even manage to snare yourself a handsome duke, like the name suggests.”
Christine giggled. “Can you imagine one of us being a duchess?”
“You, yes,” Selina said, grinning. “But I would never. Only a prince will do for the likes of me.”Besides, the only duke who would have me would be the Duke of Thieving and Villainy.
Christine laughed, knowing her sister was jesting. Warmth flooded Selina. She had missed the sound of her sister’s laugh.
“Girls, do keep up,” Lady Gillray called.
Selina gritted her teeth as she tucked her sister’s arm in her own. Together they walked quickly to the manor, easily outpacing their godmother, who huffed and hurried to keep up.
“I’m so delighted that you also received an invitation to the Duke Hunt,” Christine said.
“I must say, I was surprised,” Selina said. She had received the invitation during her last week of finishing school. She thought it was someone’s idea of a joke, at first, especially with a name like Duke Hunt. “I thought I had been mostly forgotten by the ton over the years.”
“If only that were the case,” Lady Gillray said, sounding slightly out of breath from matching their pace. “Instead, I have toanswer question after question about where you were all these years. If it were not for my generous exposition at every tea party and ball that I get invited to, then everyone would think you had disappeared with your brother.”
“Perhaps Selina should have returned home from finishing school earlier,” Christine said innocently. “Then you would not have to exert yourself so much over rumors.”
“Yes, well, she needed an education, didn’t she?” Lady Gillray said, two spots of color on her cheeks. “Selina, your education was not cheap, and I expect you to make good use of it.”
“Of course, Godmother,” Selina said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
Lady Gillray’s lips twisted into a cruel smirk. “Perhaps a miracle will happen and you will be able to find a rich husband to take you off my hands at the Duke Hunt. But if not, then you had better waste no time looking for employment as a governess or a lady’s companion.”
“Please, Godmother, she has just arrived,” Christine pleaded. “She has not even been inside the manor yet. Let her settle in first.”
“She has no time to waste!” the older woman exclaimed. “She is three-and-twenty years old, without a penny to her name. Perhaps she would have more of an advantage if your father were still alive, or if your brother had not drowned the familyname in mud, but that is the reality of the situation, and the sooner she acknowledges it, the better.”
“It’s all right, Christine,” Selina said. She gave her godmother a brittle smile. “Yes, I’ve thought about employment. But my first goal is to go to this Duke Hunt, whatever that means, and be there for my sister. Perhaps I will meet a lady who will take me as a companion.”
